Star-Ledger fileKleber Cordova is escorted from Superior Court in Morristown in this 2008 file photo. Cordova is accused of drowning his wife, Eliana Torres, in a bathtub.

MORRISTOWN — A Superior Court judge ruled today that the prosecution may not introduce as evidence Kleber Cordova’s video-recorded confession to drowning his wife in their Morristown home.

Judge Thomas Manahan, sitting in Morristown, said the confession is inadmissible because Cordova had asked to have an attorney present during another interrogation the previous evening, but he had not been provided an attorney.

During the interview, Cordova said he “was crazy” when he held his wife’s head underwater in a bathtub after she told him she had a boyfriend and no longer wanted to be married to him.

Cordova, 32, faces a murder charge in the death of Eliana Torres, 26, his wife and the mother of their two children.

Manahan ruled that the prosecution could introduce the confession only if Cordova takes the stand and testifies in his defense. Defendants are not required to testify in criminal trials, but if Cordova does testify, the video confession could be used to “impeach his credibility,” Manahan ruled.

Following the incident on May 9, 2008, Cordova was interviewed by investigators for the Morristown Police Department and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office twice on May 9 and once on May 10.

Cordova denied any responsibility for his wife’s condition during the first two interviews and “invoked his right to counsel” during the second interview, Manahan pointed out.

The following day, Manahan said, a state Division of Youth and Family Services worker met with Cordova at Morristown Memorial Hospital “for the stated purpose of requesting permission of (Cordova) ‘as a courtesy’ to interview” his 8-year-old daughter.

However, Manahan pointed out, the DYFS worker, Betty Ortiz, was aware that the prosecutor’s office had already interviewed the girl and the Attorney General's office had provided authorization to remove the children based upon “imminent danger.”

“The purported premise of requesting permission from defendant to interview his child as a means to reinitiate contact through use of a third party cannot be condoned,” the judge said.

After Cordova met with Ortiz, he agreed to the third interview and police “confronted” him with his daughter’s statement that “she saw her father holding her mother down in the water,” Manahan said.

It was then that Cordova confessed but insisted the drowning was based on the argument over his wife’s boyfriend and was not premeditated, the judge said.

Manhan said the confession could still be used if Cordova takes the witness stand because the video showed it was not “coerced.”

Cordova had voluntarily waived his Miranda rights during the third interview, and his confession was made “in the face of mounting evidence that his prior versions of the event were fabrications and falsehoods,” Manahan said.

The judge's written ruling followed a lengthy hearing on admissibility of evidence that began on Aug. 23 and concluded with its 10th session on May 5.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said his office will not appeal the ruling.

"The state has never needed the defendant's self-serving statements in this case," Bianchi said in a statement. "This ruling in no manner whatsoever affects the prosecution's case. Now that this issue is completed we look forward to trying this matter before a jury as soon as is possible."

Manahan had previously ruled that the prosecution may introduce as a witness Cordova's sister-in-law, Zaida Solis. She testified during the hearing that Cordova told her he "did it" -- meaning he held his wife's head underwater -- but said he "didn't mean for that to happen."